Isolde had many plans for SIBYL. Things she genuinely wanted to accomplish. But after drafting barely half of her ideas, her attention turned elsewhere.
"Hmm…"
She searched for information about the "Colors Incident," yet there were barely any articles about it.
Those that existed were vague, which briefly mentioned a facility that disguised itself as an institution for children with special needs, but in truth, conducted human experimentation.
"Schneider… Schneider…"
No matter how hard Isolde searched, there was no record of any Schneider being involved. Not even a mention of Julius Sebastian Schneider, who claimed to have been one of the facility's subjects.
"It must've been covered up…"
That was the only reasonable conclusion.
At that time, Isolde had been an intern given the opportunity to work at the Colors facility after winning an award for her thesis project, SIBYL.
Working there, she had bright hopes for her career. She had no idea what the facility's true purpose was. Her only intention had been to help children there.
She had noticed questionable practices during her stay, but none that seemed overtly unethical. Still, discomfort grew in her mind, and she left two years later.
When she heard the facility was abruptly shut down a few years after her departure, she could hardly believe it. Thinking about what might have happened to those children filled her with guilt she had been carrying ever since.
"Julius…. Julius…"
When she dug deeper into her thoughts, she remembered a blonde boy who often led the other children. The younger ones would follow him around, calling him 'Brother Julius' with admiration in their voices.
But something about it didn't make sense.
Isolde was certain that no Schneider was listed among those involved in the Colors facility.
Yet if that boy truly was Julius…
"...."
Then it had to be deliberate.
Perhaps Johannes Sievernich Schneider had hidden his son's identity, hoping to rehabilitate him away from the public eye. Or perhaps he had found it shameful to admit his own child had been sent to an institution meant for children facing difficulties.
But the real question.
"What happened to those children?"
There were no records that mentioned what became of them after the facility was shut down. From what Isolde remembered, some of the children had parents, while others had come from Kinderheims in hopes of helping them.
Isolde never involved herself in the politics of the German Republic. It wasn't because she didn't care, but because she couldn't afford to.
The Republic was ruthless toward anyone who showed even the slightest sign of dissent. With a daughter to raise, Isolde had chosen to live quietly.
Yet now, as she pieced the puzzle together, she finally understood just how cruel the Republic could be.
The fact that there wasn't even a single acknowledgment of those children, whose lives had already been burdened before Colors was closed, spoke volumes.
Isolde was certain some of them were still out there. And she was equally certain that whatever hidden trauma was deep within Julius, Colors had something to do about it.
——Mommy…
Isolde turned at the small voice and saw her daughter, Anneliese, standing by the doorway, rubbing her sleepy eyes. It seemed she had woken up in the middle of the night.
"Yes, sweetie? Why are you awake?"
"...I had a dream."
"A dream? Was it a nightmare?"
Anneliese shook her head. "...No. Mister was there."
"Mister?" Isolde asked, brows furrowing. "Do you mean Mister Schneider?"
"Mhm." Anneliese nodded.
Isolde blinked in surprise. While she knew her daughter had grown quite fond of Julius for some inexplicable reason, she hadn't thought it was to the point that she would dream about him.
After all, they had only met a month ago.
"Anne was big," Anneliese continued, "and was walking around with Mister. But Mister looked like an old man… Hehe~"
"...Is that so?"
Isolde tilted her head in confusion.
"How strange…"
* * *
Standard protocols required Julius, Gabriel, and the Revenant Knights to remain inside Camp Lichterfelde until the lockdown was officially lifted. As a result, they spent the entire night within the compound.
Of course, none of them slept. Every one of them remained alert, keeping watch over the last known lead to Nameless. The man who had taken Friedemann Adler's place.
When the holographic disguise was disrupted, the intruder's true identity was revealed, a man identified as Armin Schulz.
Through a full biometric and molecular facial scan, they confirmed his background. Armin was an operative tied to the underworld with connections to several trafficking networks.
When asked who had hired him, Armin gave only one name, Jakob. '
Luckily for them, he was talkative. It became apparent that, after failing his mission and even botching his own suicide attempt meant to prevent interrogation, he had been abandoned by those who hired him.
With no one left to protect him, Armin was far more willing to talk.
As a result, the interrogation went on through the night.
The questioning began with Julius.
"This Jakob person… he's still alive, isn't he?"
Armin let out a dry laugh. "Given that I'm the one sitting here and the other guy's dead, yeah, I'd say Jakob made it out. There were three of us who infiltrated this place."
Julius remained skeptical. As always, he had SIBYL running scans in the background to measure Armin's pulse, tone, and microexpressions, indenting to detect the probability of deceit.
The reading came out as clear. Armin was telling the truth.
"What was your method of entry?" Julius asked.
"I don't know the full details," Armin replied. "We all came in using holos. The way everything went so smoothly, I'd say Jakob already had an insider working here."
Julius processed the information. From the way Armin spoke, it was evident that none of the infiltrators, apart from Jakob, knew who the insider was. The operation had each participant aware only of their limited role.
Of course, Julius already knew the truth. The insider was the warden himself, Krüger.
Gabriel soon took over.
"Does Jakob have any connections to Erich Weiss?"
Armin looked confused. "Who?"
"...."
Gabriel frowned. It was a name anyone in military or knight training would have encountered. The Weiss case had been a popular topic during his university days.
Realizing Armin's ignorance was genuine, Gabriel clarified the reference.
"Oh. That guy," Armin said after a pause. "No, I don't think so. But it's funny you mention it. The tech they used feels similar."
He sighed, glancing at the officers before him.
"Listen, man, I don't know as much about Jakob as you think. All I can tell you is he showed up in the underworld about six years ago. Wiped out an entire syndicate family on his own and built a name for himself from there."
"For someone who claims not to know this Jakob guy," one of the Revenant Knights muttered, "you sure gave yourself up easily, even tried to kill yourself."
Armin smirked. "What can I say? I kill myself, the pay gets raised twenty times."
"Who receives the money, then?" Julius asked.
"Hey, hey, that's a personal question, Schneider. Let's keep things strictly about Jakob, yeah?"
Julius frowned but didn't press further. Throughout the interrogation, Armin seemed determined to provoke them, throwing remarks meant to test their patience.
After a long silence, Julius suddenly asked, "Have you ever heard of… the Second Painter?"
"...."
The room went silent.
Armin's expression froze.
The smug confidence drained from his face as fear took hold. His lips quivered, and the color left his cheeks. In that room, only Julius knew the meaning of that name. It was knowledge from his previous life.
Of course, when Julius mentioned the Second Painter, everyone in the room understood where the reference stemmed from. The very mention of "the Painter" had weight that none dared to question.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Gabriel asked, looking confused.
Julius didn't respond. He simply stared at Armin, waiting.
The silence grew heavier. The name alone had sent a chill through the room.
Armin's teeth began to chatter. A look of hysteria filled his eyes.
"That… don't—Ah—Aaaahhh!"
Before anyone could react, Armin slammed his head repeatedly against the table. Blood started pooling from his forehead as he kept going, shrieking incoherently.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Restrain him!" Gabriel shouted, rushing forward and grabbing Armin by the shoulders to stop him from killing himself.
The entire room was in chaos. No one understood what had just happened, but Julius did.
The name alone had been enough to break him.
Gabriel grabbed Armin by the hair, forcing his head up. Blood dripped down the man's face as Julius leaned in.
"Who is the Second Painter? Speak!" Julius demanded.
"T-That man… he'll kill my mom… he'll kill Lukas… Friedhelm… Otto… Alaric… Gertrud…"
"Who is he?!"
"He'll kill them all… he'll kill them all…!"
"...."
"We'll all die… we'll all die… we'll all—"
Armin's words spiraled into incoherent muttering. His breathing grew shallow and erratic, and from SIBYL's internal scans, his pulse was racing beyond control.
Foam began to form at the corners of his mouth as his body trembled violently. It was clear his nervous system was breaking down, overloaded by a surge of panic and stress that his body could no longer handle.
He wasn't in any state to continue the questioning. If left unchecked, he could suffer a seizure or collapse entirely.
Recognizing this, the guards quickly restrained him and carried him out of the room for medical intervention.
"...The Second Painter…" Gabriel muttered, rubbing his chin. "Since you already seem to know about this… in the end, we barely got anything. Just a few vague leads."
"Barely?" Julius turned to him, eyes glinting with something close to exhilaration. "You're serious?"
"...."
"We have a lead, Gabriel. The biggest one so far," Julius said, his voice rising. "According to that bastard, Nameless is a man."
Gabriel blinked as the realization dawned on him. Perhaps it was the exhaustion from the sleepless night, or from dealing with the terrorist situation, but it had completely slipped past his notice until now.
"That…"
"It's a guy," Julius continued, pacing around the room with restless energy to the point the knights started looking at him like a madman. "We can narrow the search down!"
Gabriel rubbed his temple. "That's still millions of people…"
"I know," Julius said, his lips curling, as if the sheer impossibility of it was intoxicating. "But you don't understand, Gabriel, this guy…"
Gabriel could only watch.
"...."
Julius looked more alive than he'd seen him all night, as if he was on some kind of high.